#Neverstoppushing

Athletes

ESTAVANA POLMAN

Estavana Polman is a Dutch handball player. She plays for the Danish handball club Team Esbjerg and for the Dutch national team. She represented the Netherlands in younger age categories as well and collected the silver medal at the 2011 Women‘s 19 European Handball Championship. Her personal best includes a Silver medal in the 2015 World Women´s Handball Championship with the Netherlands team as well as being the All-Star Playmaker of the Women‘s 19 European Championship in 2011.

Ivo Karlović

Born in Zagreb, Croatia in 1979, Ivo Karlovic is known as the tallest player in men’s professional tennis. At 6’ 10” he has as a lofty view of the court, from which he unleashes powerful serves that can astonish as they unnerve. He has won six ATP singles titles: three in 2007, one in 2008, one in 2013 and one in 2015. Ivo took up tennis at age six and hit the court at every opportunity. Practicing without the benefit of a coach, the strong-willed Ivo found himself drawn by the energy and precision the game demands. Watching match after match on television, he later found his greatest inspiration in Boris Becker and Goran Ivanašević, a fellow Croat who also has a strong serve. Following high school graduation, he kept moving forward, joining Croatia’s Davis Cup team and turning professional in 2000. Ivo experienced a career turning point at Wimbledon in 2003, when he shocked the tennis world by beating defending champion Lleyton Hewitt, winning his first Grand Slam match. It was poignant victory for the young man, who at the time was a relative unknown ranked at 203. Then, in 2006, life delivered a damaging serve when the quiet giant injured his left knee and found himself out of competition for several months. But, he recovered and has returned to a rigorous workout schedule in which he practices as much as six hours per day in order to broaden his skill base and build his overall strength.

Lasse Svan Hansen

The importance of the right shoe: „Handball players never have to stop running. This is what we are good at, and I know it sounds obvious but it is the only way to score.“ „It is essential for a handball player that the shoe is the best possible. Our feet are under so much pressure from many different angles and if the shoe isn’t right, your feet won’t be right for long.“

YULIA PUTINTSEVA

Yulia Putinseva was born in Moscow, Russia. Her influencee into tennis, was Yulia’s father Anton. After training at the Spartak Club in Moscow, Yulia, like fellow Mizuno ambassador Marcos Baghdatis, moved to the Mouratoglou Academy in Paris at the age of 14, after being invited due to her exploits earlier that year. Growing up, Yulia’s key influences of the game included: Jelena Dokic, Martina Hingis (past coach) and most notably Justine Hennin. In 2010, Putinseva achieved her best results on the youth circuit, reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon and the finishing runner up in the final of the US Open. She also represented Russia at the Youth Olympic Games, losing out in the semi-finals. After winning her 6th ITF youth tournament in 2012, Yulia’s first notable win on the women’s tour came at the 2012 e-Boks Open, eventually losing out to former World No. 1 Jelena Jankovic In the 2nd round. This was shortly followed by winning the 2012 Open GDF SUEZ de Cagnessur- Mer Alpes-Maritimes. Yulia’s biggest win to date was at the 2016 Australian Open, upsetting the odds and beating former World No.1 and 18th seed Caroline Wozniaki in the first round. As a result, Yulia’s highest ranking to date is 57 on the WTA tour.

Brand

The Passion for More

At Mizuno, we want to challenge you to go further, jump higher, be faster, react quicker. We want to inspire you. We want to help you perform even better through superior products and superior equipment. Strive for success and go for greatness. You’re here to do something you couldn’t do last week. Next week you’ll do something you couldn’t do this week. Whatever your fitness goal, whatever your sporting challenge, we can help you do more and go beyond. How do I become better? The answer for both you and for us is simple, never stop pushing.

Products

THE ICON OF IMPRESSIVE RUNS

The pursuit of perfection is in Mizuno’s DNA. We aim for continuous improvement and we believe that there is always room to do something better. This mentality guided us across decades, pushing us to constantly improve our products. This mentality is perfectly embodied by Mizuno’s most recognized shoe on the market: the Wave Rider. The evolution started in 1998, with the creation of the first Wave Rider Mizuno and follows up until today and the launch of the Wave Rider 20, the ultimate shoe designed by our Research & Development Laboratory in Osaka. The Wave Rider 20 is the new version but not the last one. Because we can always do better. This is our belief. The iconic shoe in the Mizuno range is elevated to highest levels with the new Wave concept – the CloudWave™. Additionally many new features and improvements have been made to celebrate this 20th edition of the Mizuno Wave Rider with spectacular innovations.

The Morelia Neo II

In Japan designers are working in close collaboration with themanufacturing team, to enhance perfection daily. The Morelia Neo II design, embodying the lightweight, flexible, barefoot feel concept, is not simply a design for visual appeal, but has functionality in each of its parts. There is infinite variation in players’ feet when it comes to the width and height of an instep, toe length, and other factors. The Morelia is designed to mold to the shape of each individual player.

THE WAVE MIRAGE

Constantly changing direction at top speed, handball wingers need lightweight footwear to improve their acceleration and their performance. The Mizuno Wave Mirage is a shoe designed with the same level of attention and passion as a formula one car to enable wingers the very best in acceleration and agility. The parallel waveplate and the dynamic cushioning guarantee the ultimate in agility. The Mizuno Wave Mirage provides the explosive push off that wingers need in a match, enhancing a player‘s ability to jump confidently into the goal area in a moment that might decide a match.

History

110 Years of Excelence

We are proud of our heritage, our traditions and our way of thinking. Our business philosophy is based on Kaizen: translated from the Japanese, it‘s to do with continuous improvement. We believe that aiming for better will never come about through one massive change. It requires one hundred – even one thousand – small changes. Over time, these little changes add up to something significant. There is always room to do something better, however imperceptible. And the possibilities are infinite.